Nirai Kanai is the Okinawan name for the mainland, probably China. There are numerous legends that explain how rice farming began in Japan. An animal, sometimes an eagle, other times a hawk or a crane, took a grain of rice from Nirai Kanai and flew back to Japan. In other versions it is a human who visited Nirai Kanai and brought the grain of rice back. In one of the most unusual tales, it is a whale who brings the grain of rice from Nirai Kanai.